The Next Generation
by Shiftry-Chan
Summary: Years have gone by, and now Mario resides over the Mushroom Kingdom as King, with his wife, Queen Peach, and their daughter, Princess Anne. However, that doesn't mean Mario and Bowser's score is settled. It's up to Mario when his niece, Princess Roze, is captured by the menacing Koopa.
1. Bowser's New Princess

Hello, Mushroom Kingdom! Thanks to y'all for coming down here today to here me perform. But I can't blame you. I am pretty beautiful. Oh, eh heh-heh. Sorry, I didn't see you there. I bet you probably want to know how I got into this mess. I mean, Bowser doesn't just randomly throw people in his dungeon, right? Let me tell you how I got myself into this mess. My name is Roze Mario. And this is how it all began…

"DUKE!!!! DARN IT! GET OFFA ME!!!" I yelled as I threw my twin brother's legs off of my suffering body. Duke slowly opened his eyes and stared sleepily at me.

"Sis…? How did I…?"

"THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW!!" I screamed. We both started to think about that, when I recalled Duke and I watching random videos on youtube late last night. I glanced down at the foot of my bed, where by brother sat on top of his laptop, where I threw him. I pointed at it.

"Right" he said as he rose to his feet and picked up his computer. As he left, I asked him:

"You're not going back to sleep, are you?"

"You do realize that it's 8 am, don't you? It's early"

"But today is the day that we visit Uncle Mario, Aunt Peach, and most importantly, Anne! You can't go to sleep! The sooner you're ready, the better!" He just left. I got up and got dressed for the day, making sure I looked my best, since I was going to be visiting my cousin, who was also the princess of the mushroom kingdom. Most people would be nervous meeting a princess, but when you're a princess yourself, that would be ridiculous. Yeah, I'm known as Princess Roze of Sarasaland. My brother is Prince Duke of Sarasaland. But that's enough! Gotta get back to the story…

"Duke! I have a question! Do you…DUKE! WAKE UP, DARN IT!" My twin brother lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes.

"Sis, mom and dad aren't even up yet. Why wake me?"

"Because you're the only one who's younger than me, that's why!"

"Fine, I'll get up. But you have to leave."

"Alright, but I have a question for you"

"What is it?"

"Anne and I will probably end up playing soccer. Wanna join?"

"NO!"

A floro sapien walked in, and Duke and I both paid mind to it.

"The King wishes for the two of you to keep your voices down. The queen is still sleeping"

"See?"

"Shut up, Duke!"

~Later that day~

"Anne, it's coming your way! Think you can block it?"

"There's no way I'm letting you get passed me!"

"Take this! Burning kick!"

"Think that'll pass? Love's block!"

Anne and I watched as Anne's "Love's block" sent the ball off into the distance. I looked at Anne. "Right…" she said as she ran after the ball.

I watched as Anne ran after the ball.

"Look at this. Is this that Mushroom Palace Dad's always talking about?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard this unfamiliar voice boom out from nowhere. I turned startled to see a strange-looking boy. What probably shocked me the most was the fact that he was almost dressed exactly like Duke.

He wore a cap identical to Duke's except it was light blue instead of orange and had an R on it instead of a D like Duke's. His overalls were black instead of purple, his undershirt was light blue instead of orange, he wore gloves and he even had brown shoes.

But at least they didn't look the same. Duke was tall and thin while this boy was short and fat. This boy had blonde hair while Duke had light brown. They both seemed to be trying and failing to grow a mustache.

But even with all this, what drew my attention the most to this strange boy was that his nose was in a disturbing irregular shape and it was pink. Ew.

As if he didn't notice me staring, he continued on.

"Mom makes it sound so extravagant, and Dad used to tell me how 'magical' it was when I was 4. It's really nothing to look at"

"You take that back about my mother's palace right now!"

I noticed Anne had finally returned. She was definitely out of breath, but yet she was ready to face this boy if she had to.

"Anne, c'mon, just ignore the creep. Our mothers will have cows if they found out we got into a fight. Actually, _your _mom will have a cow. My mom will only be mad if I got in a fight and lost."

The boy glared at me. I cowered in fear.

"Um…I didn't mean it! I swear! Please just leave me and my face alone…"

"Well, well, if it isn't Ralf."

Still cowering in fear from the boy's death glare, I turned to see a girl who looked to be about the same age as…Ralf, was it? Yeah, I think that's what she said. Anyway, so this girl has a bone-chilling stare, short black hair, a light purple t-shirt with a skull on it, dark blue jeans, white sneakers and a single white glove on her left hand.

"V-Violet" Ralf stuttered.

'Wait a minute…Does this guy have a crush on her?' I thought to myself.

"Violet, what are you doing here?" Ralf asked the girl.

"I was just out and about and I couldn't help but notice you torturing some little girls. I got interested."

"He cannot hurt us at all!" Anne spoke up boldly. Too boldly.

"Oh, and who might you be?" Violet asked as she leaned into my cousin.

"My name is Princess Anne Mario of the Mushroom Kingdom. And that over there is Princess Roze Mario of Sarasaland!"

"Hey, where did she go?!" I heard Ralf yell off in the distance.

Don't look at me, that guy was scary! I had to get out of there as quickly as possible…


	2. The Little Mushroom Who Tried

_Nope, not dead yet! I apologize for the incredible time gap between this chapter and the last. I PROMISE that I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening again. If you've actually been waiting around for me to update this story, I thank you for not having lost hope in me :D Anyway, without further ado, chapter two!_

"Long story short, I ran into the worst cave in the world: Bowser's. He kidnapped me and here I am"

Roze looked over at the young girl besides her, also shackled up in the large cage. Outside, nothing could be seen except the walls of the volcano and the bubbling lava pool. Roze's black hair was frazzled from the heat and part of it stuck to her sweat-ridden face. Despite the fact she was in her sports clothes, Roze was burning up. Her green shirt and blue shorts clung to her young body in an unattractive manner.

"Sorry, who were you again?" she asked.

"It's Toadessa. I've grown up in the Mushroom Kingdom, because both of my parents work for Queen Peach and King Mario. As you can see, I'm just like them. I'm supposed to grow to serve, and I'll never be nothing more!" The heat was also affecting Toadessa. Her blue bow had sunk in the midst of all the heat, and her pink braid with its red spots was never pulled more by gravity.

There was an awkward silence before Roze said:

"How did you get in here? What's Bowser got against you? I'm sure I'm the only one who accidently infiltrates his lair…"

"I wanted the Toadstool name to have some recognition, some valor. So when I heard you were kidnapped, I tried to go and save you. But, I just got kidnapped myself… and now someone needs to save me… I'm such a burden to the kingdom…"

"Hey, if anyone's a burden, it's a coward like me…" Roze said, empathetically. Then she added, "So I'm officially kidnapped, huh?" Toadessa simply nodded.

"How did you know that Bowser had me?" Roze inquired of her cell-mate.

"Well…" Toadessa began, "I'll tell you what I know"

-2 days earlier-

Anne walked across the grassy landscape of the Mushroom Kingdom, and walked across the bridge leading to home, sweet castle. As she approached the regal doors to the castle, two Toads noticed Anne as she came, soccer ball under her arm. They opened the doors for her with such precision that the Princess didn't even have to stop to wait. The doors were closed almost immediately behind her. They paid no mind to the look of worry spread on her face, or the ripe burn on the palm of her right hand. Duke, however, couldn't help but notice her expression when he peered over the top of his 3DS. He had been keeping to himself in the castle's foyer, perched on a bulge in the wall, just to the left of the grand staircase that lead up to the castle's second story.

"Anne!" Duke called out as he closed his handheld and slipped it back into his overall pocket. Anne's gaze followed the direction in which Duke's voice was projected. She was at a loss for words, but her eyes told Duke exactly what was going on. He sighed and pinched the skin at the top of his nose.

"Roze… what hole did you crawl into this time?" he muttered under his breath.

I don't think they realized, but I was in that room, too. I heard and saw it. That's when I snuck into the room where the King and Queen like to entertain their guests.

"… certainly are my hero. After all the castles you had to go through just to find me!" With the affectionate expression, Queen Peach placed her hand on her King's leg, just above the knee.

"For you, Peach, I would've gone through a thousand more" he replied.

"Momma Mia!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Luigi!" Daisy exclaimed as she scolded her own King. Luigi winced at the fierceness of his Queen. Daisy replaced her scowl with a seductive smile and leaned in, saying in a hushed voice, "I happen to think it's sweet" King Luigi's face lit up with the color red. The calm atmosphere of romance was suddenly broken when Anne swung the doors open (unknowingly hitting me in the face), and boldly said, "Mother! Father! I require an audience most urgently!" Queen Peach and King Mario quickly rose out of their seats.

"Anne, what's the matter? Oh, your hand! You were using those fireballs again!" Peach said as she walked up to her daughter. Duke shortly appeared in the doorway.

"Mom, Dad, you guys should listen. It has to do with Roze"

"Roze? Where is she?" the Queen of Sarasaland asked her son.

"Anne, tell us where your cousin is" Mario said.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you, Father. All I know is, Roze and I were enjoying a game of soccer. Roze was about to score, so I blocked it, but did too good a job, and the ball went flying. I went to retrieve it, and when I returned, a boy I didn't recognize was insulting our fair kingdom. Then the boy was joined by a girl, who I also failed to identify. We exchanged some heated words, and Roze ran off, frightened.

"Once we realized she was gone, I started to look for her, but then the boy took his chance to attack."

"Oh no! You're not hurt, are you? Where were our Toads, you were not too far, and my baby was-" Queen Peach began but was interrupted when Queen Daisy spoke up, saying,

"Peach, I understand your concerns, really, but I'd like to remind you that I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS!" Everyone in the room cowered in fear as Daisy expressed her love and worry in one of the scariest ways possible. She quickly changed her expression, smiling at Anne and simply saying, "Continue"

Anne did so:

"In a manner of self-defense, I used my fireballs on the boy, and he started to yell in pain. The girl then revealed a golf club, like she was about to use it against me. But then, she got a call on her mobile phone, and retreated. I took that as an opportunity to look for Roze, but I couldn't find her anywhere… I'm so sorry, Uncle Luigi, Aunt Daisy…" With this, Anne lowered her head, fighting the urge to cry.

Her mother embraced her in a warm hug. She stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head, whispering, "It's ok, Anne, you did everything you could. It's ok, shhhh" Anne let herself go and started to cry loudly. The Queen and Princess finally let go of each other, and then Anne's father approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder, and looked her right in the eye.

"Don't worry, I'll find her" he said, reassuring her.

"I'ma coming with you, Mario" Luigi said, "She's my daughter, and if anyone's going to find her, it should be me" Mario nodded.

"Duke, I want you to go, too" Daisy said to her son.

Duke sighed. "Alright, fine"

I wanted to go and look for you too, but I had to sneak back out of the room before anyone saw me. And when I did, mom was looking for me, and it's not like I could've gotten around her. It wouldn't do any good to have my mom worried about me.


	3. Mario & Luigi: Back in Action

Hey guys, sorry about my little hiatus. So much junk has been happening in my life, but I'm happy to report that things are finally getting back to normal. I mean, sure my laptop broke down yesterday, but I'm a smart author who backs up all her files, so I FIANLLY got around to finishing this chapter today! HUZZAH! Anyway, please enjoy chapter 3 :)

* * *

Roze breathed heavily. As a princess, she received many luxuries and vanity items that ordinary girls could only dream of, on a daily basis. However, at this moment, she would have been happy with a simple glass of ice water. As she hung from her wrists, she looked down at the necklace she was wearing.

Roze's necklace featured a black heart pendant with a silver chain. Her mother had given it to her as a birthday present about 4 years ago, when she turned 10. Originally, Luigi had given the necklace to Daisy when they were dating. However, it then had a gold chain. Daisy never wore it, but held onto it, as not to offend Luigi. When she had Roze, she knew she would pass it on to her, but switched out the chain because she thought that gold didn't suit Roze. She would only take it off to get it cleaned, or when her mother forced her to remove it. It had been 10 days since its most recent cleaning, and she had never seen it more tarnished. Part of it had to be the intense heat in the volcanic environment.

"Wait, Toadessa. You said that you came here because you heard that I was _kidnapped, _but it sounds to me like everyone just thought I was _missing_. How did you come to know that Bowser had me?"

"Oh, let me continue my story."

-2 Days Earlier (again)-

As it turns out, mom had gotten me to help out with dad. He had gotten his head stuck again, and needed my help to get him free. In his defense, our people do have rather large heads. Still, it's an even more common problem for my dad.

So after I freed my dad from the space between the wall and the washing machine, I was quick to get back to your story. I went back to my hiding place, and saw that the kings of our lands were wearing funny outfits I hadn't seen before. It was the first time I'd seen them in anything besides their royal capes and fancy shirts.

Your dad, King Luigi, was wearing a pair of blue overalls, and a green shirt beneath. The kind a commoner would wear! And he wore white gloves, too! Well, they were kind of dirty, like he hadn't worn them in ages. And he had on these brown shoes, that almost seemed like the ones me and my family wear! And to top it, he was wearing this green cap that had the letter "L" on the front. It was… odd, but I loved seeing him in commoner's clothes.

And King Mario, too! His outfit was nearly identical to King Luigi's, except he had a red shirt on under his overalls. And his hat was red, too! And there was this "M" letter on the front of it. It was truly a sight to behold. I wonder if they knew I was watching, and I hope they aren't embarrassed or anything, I mean-

"Toadessa!" Roze yelled to her cellmate. Toadessa looked at Roze frightened.

"Um… wh-what I was trying to say was, you don't need to feel that way. The truth is, neither my father nor my uncle was born into royalty. They just married my mother and aunt. The outfits you described was pretty much the only thing they wore in their commoner days. Anyway, continue"

Toadessa gave a short-lived smile and continued with her story.

"So then the next thing I know, I'm overcome with this feeling of pain. Mail Toad had come bursting through the door, slamming me into the wall. I'm pretty good at tolerating pain, plus the humor of seeing the King in commoner's clothes still kept me entertained through it. Oh, sorry, I hope I haven't offended you, Princess…

So Mail Toad is yelling, "King Mario, I have an urgent message for you! And it's from Bowser!"

At this point, everyone in there had this expression of fear on their faces, and I think I heard Queen Peach let out a gasp. Then she sat down like she was about to faint, and I saw Queen Daisy go over to her side.

"But Mario, I thought-a you said that Bowser was dead!" King Luigi said.

King Mario raised his hand to his head, and started scratching his head. Then he said, "I thought he was a-too, Weegie"

"Well, what does the letter say? Does he know where my daughter is? WHAT DOES IT SAY?" Queen Daisy started yelling. Mail Toad looked real scared.

Oh, geez, what did the letter say? I think it was something like this:

_King Mario, _

_I have your precious child in my care. If you want to see her safe and alive again, come to my hideaway at World 1-8. Bring (a certain amount of money, I just can't remember how much…!). Don't try anything sneaky, and bring that brother of yours. I want revenge on the both of you. _

_Bowser_

"Oh my," Queen Peach said, "I can't believe it... Bowser survived that fight... But I saw him die with my own two eyes!"

Then King Mario went over to Queen Peach's side and said, "I know Peach, but-a maybe Junior resurrected him. He's-a done it before."

Queen Peach sighed, and then she started to cry. King Mario started to comfort her, and all the while Queen Daisy was fuming.

"Well we can't just stand around here! We have to save Roze! My child gets her guts from her father..."

"HEY! I resent that!" Roze interrupted. Then she blushed as she added, "I'm perfectly capable on my own."

At this moment, a loud THANK! noise rang out in the cell. Startled, Toadessa and Roze looked up and saw Dry Bones standing on the opposite side of the bars.

"What's with all the chatter? This is Lord Bowser's dungeon, _**not**_ one of your little sleepovers!"

"Well you don't have to be so mean about it" Roze muttered under her breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Dry Bones yelled.

"Nothing! I said nothing!" Roze blurted out in a fit of panic.

Toadessa got a spark in her eye as she glared at Dry Bones. He returned the favor, and the two began a staring contest. Unfortunately for Toadessa, due to the fact that Dry Bones was already dead, she lost. Dry Bones let out a cackle that drove Roze and Toadessa crazy. He then slowly started to walk away.

Roze let out a sigh. How much longer was she going to stay in this dungeon?


	4. The Princess and the Toad

_Nope, not dead! I've just been super busy, and I don't have the time to write that much anymore. But I won't ever give up, and I'll write when I can! With that in mind, I ask for patience in future updates. Thanks!_

* * *

"Um, Princess Roze? I think he's gone, so you can stop holding your breath. That is, if you like." Toadessa said to her cellmate.

Roze took in a deep breath. "For the record, I wasn't holding my breath because of that creep!" she lied.

The dungeon cell was overcome by a long silence, which Toadessa wound up breaking by asking:

"Is your father a legendary hero like King Mario is?"

Roze smiled. "You bet he is! Everyone in Sarasaland looks up to him! And if they know I'm here, they'll definitely save us! But I don't know about my brother. I mean, my father does allow him train, but I have never really seen him in battle…"

"Oh, I don't know if Prince Duke is coming." Toadessa said. Roze gave her a confused look.

"But I thought you said that mother asked him to come. Did I hear you wrong?"

"No Princess, you didn't! If you would let me finish my story, I'll explain."

"Huh? You didn't finish?" Roze said confused. Before Roze could comment further, Toadessa resumed…

"So the Royal family received Bowser's letter…"

"If it's Bowser we're facing," King Luigi began, "this could get dangerous. Son, perhaps it would-a be best if you sit this one-a out."

Prince Duke smirked and said, "No offense dad, but I'm definitely going. Now that I know it's Bowser that has Roze, I want to go. I've heard so many stories about Bowser, but I never thought I'd actually get to fight him."

"I really don't think it's such a good idea." Queen Peach began. "I've spent more time with Bowser than anyone should in a lifetime, and yes, King Mario did manage to save me every time I was kidnaped, but not once was it easy for him."

"And-a over time," King Mario said, "he started to get-a stronger, and I could not-a beat him on my own. I started having to bring Luigi and two Toads with-a me."

Prince Duke looked pretty angry, but Queen Daisy looked even angrier.

"Look guys, I appreciate the concern for my son, but he has been training really hard, and I know that he is capable of this." She said.

"Honey, with all due respect, Bowser is a lot more powerful than you can ever imagine." King Luigi added.

"Oh don't give me that! I've met Bowser, I'll have you know! Do you remember when we were trapped in that toy box?" Queen Daisy asked.

King Luigi nodded. "You did slap-a Bowser off into the sky."

"Precisely! How is a creature like that too much of a threat for my son, especially when he'll have his father and uncle, the legendary King Mario, with him?!"

Queen Daisy was fuming, and I was too scared to see what would happen next. I thought that if your family kept fighting each other, you would continue to be trapped and tortured. And, if I rescued you, what a hero I would be to Toads everywhere! My parents would be so proud of me, and nobody would treat me like some weakling! So at that moment, I made up my mind and came to rescue you!

Toadessa stood triumphantly in the middle of the cage she shared with Roze. There was a silence before Roze pointed out, "Toadessa, you didn't save me though."

Toadessa began to sweat even more than the heat was making her already.

"Yeah, it turns out that Koopas with hammers guard Bowser's castle, and if you try to storm in through the front, no matter how confident you are, you get a hammer thrown at you, and then you wake up in a cage…" Roze sighed. She then looked at Toadessa and smiled.

"But my family is coming, and there's no doubt that they'll save us." The Princess said reassuringly. Toadessa smiled.

"Princess Roze, may I ask you a question?" Toadessa said. Roze looked at the young mushroom.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you think that they'll have another one of those parties any time soon?" Roze gave Toadessa a puzzled look.

"What do you mean? Like a celebration? I think Aunt Peach's birthday is coming up."

"No, I mean those parties that my dad tells me about. You know… a 'Mario Party'." Roze smiled.

"Oh, a Mario Party! I've heard so much about those! The last one they had was before my parents were even married! But I heard that the last one was pretty bad, and my parents seem skeptical if they'll ever host another one," Roze said, "which is a shame, the first ones they had seemed like they were loads of fun!"

"Maybe after we get rescued, they'll have another one, and we can be players!" Toadessa said. Roze smiled wide from ear to ear.

"Yes! That sounds amazing!"

The two girls continued to talk, trying to make the best out of their situation, and optimistic that someone would be coming for them.


End file.
